Men's Golf

UCSB Finishes in Upper-Half at 62nd Annual Western Intercollegiate

Mar 27, 2008

March 27, 2008

SANTA CRUZ, Calif. -
Saint Mary,s College held off #23-ranked Michigan State and UC Irvine over the final three holes to win the team title and Michigan State,s Jack Newman captured individual honors at the 62nd annual Western Intercollegiate men,s golf tournament.

The Gaels picked up their first team victory of the season with a 54-hole total of 880 on the par 70, 6,511-yard Pasatiempo Golf Course. Michigan State and UC Irvine tied for second at 881. Saint Mary,s, ranked 50th in the GolfStat national rankings, began the final round 14 strokes behind Michigan State and caught the Spartans after nine holes. UC Irvine turned in the low team score of the final round, a 294, and led briefly during its final six holes before yielding the team championship to the Gaels.

Saint Mary,s and UC Irvine played their final three holes four-over par while Michigan State was one-over on its last three holes.

California was fourth at 886 and Northwestern rounded out the top five teams in the 16-team field at 895.

Led by sophomore Brian Hollenbeck, UC Santa Barbara finished eighth in the team standings with a 60-over par 900, eight shots out of fourth-place.

Hollenbeck tied for 14th in the individual standings with a 12-over par 222.

Newman, a sophomore from Des Moines, Iowa, won for the first time this season and the second in his career with a final-round 78 for a four-over par 214 total. He finished two strokes ahead of Saint Mary,s senior Mike McRae, the second-round leader. McRae and Newman were paired together after each player had sub-70,s scores for the first two rounds, but neither could not muster a final round birdie. McRae had nine bogeys and one double-bogey. Newman had four bogeys and two double bogeys and took the individual lead for good with a par on the 16th hole.

Kyle Moore of Northwestern was third at 217. Fresno State,s Matt Ryan was the only player in the 90-player field to break par in the final round with a two-under 68 and was one of four tied for sixth at 220.

Columbia,s Justin Lee finished tied for 57th at 232, but opened the final round with a hole-in-one on the 18th hole, his first hole of play. Lee used a 6-iron to the par 3, 181 yard hole and watched his ball bounce twice to the left before rolling into the hole.